Last Saturday was supposed to be relaxing, but it was exhausting. I planned a quiet day at home. My sister called and asked me to help her move house. At first I was annoyed and very tired after a long working week. Moving furniture was boring. The stairs were frightening — her new flat is on the fifth floor and there is no lift. In the evening something surprising happened. Her new neighbours invited us to dinner. They were interesting: he has worked in Japan and she has travelled across South America. I was amazed by their stories. I felt excited about planning a trip.

1. Glossary (English → Latvian)

• relaxing — relaksējošs
• exhausting — nogurdinošs
• annoyed — aizkaitināts
• tired — noguris
• lift — lifts
• story — stāsts

2. Multiple-choice: Choose the correct form (-ed or -ing).

a) The film was very ___ . (bored / boring / bore)
b) After the run I felt ___ . (tiring / tired / tire)
c) The lecture was ___ . (interested / interesting / interest)
d) The news made me ___ . (excited / exciting / excite)
e) The climb was ___ . (frightening / frightened / fright)
f) At first the day was ___ for me. (confused / confusing / confuse)

Answers: a) boring b) tired c) interesting d) excited e) frightening f) confusing

Teksts bez izmaiņām (skatīt 1. sadaļu).

1. Gap-fill (relaxing, exhausting, annoyed, tired, boring, frightening):
a) The move was ___ because of all the heavy boxes.
b) I felt ___ after carrying furniture all afternoon.
c) At first I was ___ that my plans changed.
d) The morning should have been ___ .
e) Lifting the sofa was ___ .
f) The high stairs were ___ .

2. Comprehension questions: a) Why was the narrator annoyed at first? b) What made the narrator excited by the end of the evening?

Answers: 1. a) exhausting b) tired c) annoyed d) relaxing e) boring f) frightening; 2. a) Because the narrator had planned a quiet day and was tired after a long week at work, but the sister asked for help to move. b) The neighbours invited them to dinner and told interesting stories, which amazed the narrator and led to excitement about planning a trip.

Last Saturday was meant to be relaxing, but it turned out to be unexpectedly exhausting. I had planned a quiet day at home, yet my sister rang and asked me to help her move house. At first I was annoyed and very tired after a long working week. Moving furniture was boring and the narrow stairwell was frightening — her new flat is on the fifth floor and there is no lift, which sometimes felt overwhelming given the heavy boxes. However, the evening brought something surprising. Her new neighbours invited us to dinner. They were interesting people: he has worked in Japan and she has travelled across South America. Their stories were fascinating and I was genuinely amazed by the places they described. By the end of the evening I wasn’t tired any more; instead I was excited and a little overwhelmed with ideas for my own travels. It was a confusing day — physically demanding in the morning and stimulating by night — but it wasn’t disappointing. The mix of exhausting work and fascinating conversation left me thinking about future trips.

1. Rewrite the sentences so the feeling is expressed as the cause (example: “I was annoyed.” → “It was annoying.”): a) I was annoyed. b) I was tired after a long working week. c) I was amazed by their stories. d) I was excited about planning my own trip.

2. Discussion question: How can meeting people with different cultural experiences be both overwhelming and inspiring? Give examples and suggest how you might respond when you feel overwhelmed.

Answers: a) It was annoying. b) The long working week was tiring. c) Their stories were fascinating. d) Planning my own trip was exciting. 2. No single correct answer.